


Young Gods

by grand_king_oikawa



Category: Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, M/M, Six of Crows, Violence, canon AU, extreme language, kaz is really in love with inej but won't admit it, maybe major character death idk yet, past self harm, probably some really fucked up death scenes it's me, probably some really graphic scenes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 10:57:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8011000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grand_king_oikawa/pseuds/grand_king_oikawa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Greed is your god, Kaz.“<br/>He almost laughed at that. “No, Inej. Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever.”  </p>
<p>Kaz Brekker awakes in complete darkness and confronted by a being claiming to be Greed who also looks uncannily like Kaz himself. And there’s still the problem that once Kaz wakes up for real, the others are gone and no one knows whether or not they are alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Kaz Brekker awoke to find himself surrounded by darkness. It wasn’t that he couldn’t see. It wasn’t that it was night. He was simply surrounded by blackness. He sat up, cautiously, and felt something sticky on his hands. He looked down to see blood, strikingly red against his pale skin. Kaz looked around, panicked. For the first time, he felt like he had lost 100% control. _Where am I? Whose blood is this? Am I dreaming?_ Frantic thoughts whirled around his head like the storms that frequently tore up the docks of Ketterdam in the winter. He called out, his voice shaky and hoarse.

“Inej?” he asked, “Jesper? What’s going on?” But nobody answered, and nobody came. He could feel blood oozing out of a cut on his forehead. He buried his head in his hands, trying frantically to remember what happened. Panic was building inside him and was threating to burst whatever small amount of his composure that remained. “Wylan! Nina!” His cries echoed throughout the darkness, “Matthias!” Kaz almost laughed bitterly to himself. How pathetic, _the_ Dirtyhands, crying out for help. He stood and looked down. His coat was stained with blood. His tie was undone. His shirt and pants were cut in numerous places, many of which had cuts and bruises of various sizes underneath. His breathing quickened. “Inej!” he yelled, frantically searching the darkness for something, anything to latch on to. Suddenly, a small crack of light appeared above him, splitting the darkness. Kaz lunged at it, only to be held back by invisible hands. He struggled, but to no avail. A figured appeared, wearing a red hood, a grey coat with gold buttons and embroidery, black pants, and black leather boots with red trimmings. The figure, most likely a man by Kaz’s calculations, held out a white-gloved hand in his direction. He stared at the figure in a mixture of bewilderment and awe.

“Welcome Kaz Rietzveld,” it spoke. The voice was not human.

“Who the fuck are you,” Kaz snarled, “Where am I, and how do you know my name?” He reached instinctively for his walking stick, only to find it was nowhere to be found.

“I am Greed, you know, the same Greed that you claim bows to you,” the voice mocked, “As to where you are, this is your own brain Kaz Reitzveld. Remember what happened?” Kaz tried once again to remember the events that led to his unconsciousness. He could only recall pieces. _There was blood. There was a lot of blood. One of Wylan’s bombs exploded in a cloud of smoke and debris. Kaz felt himself fly backwards into a wall. There were so many people. He had failed. He heard Wylan scream, Jesper call frantically for Wylan. He could feel Inej ripped from his side. More screams. More blood. His head felt hazy. Someone was trying to pull him up. He could no longer discern voices. Was this death?_

“The mission,” Kaz breathed, “I failed. They’re dead, and it’s my fault.” The room was silent save for a sharp laugh from Greed.

“They might be, they might not be. It is not for me to say,”  Greed shrugged. Kaz snarled at him, anger turning his dark eyes into ice.

“What the hell do you want,” he said quietly. Greed said nothing, only removing the hood from its head. “Answer me-” Kaz started to stay but was shocked speechless when he saw what was under the hood. He was staring back into his own face. All the angles, the scars, the eyes that were much older than a 17-year-old’s eyes should ever look, the slick undercut, everything was there. And suddenly, Greed was sitting on a throne, holding a rather familiar walking stick. But it wasn’t any old throne. It was a throne of gold and human bones. Greed casually ran the walking stick through his hands, stroking the crow’s skull at the top. “That’s mine,” Kaz said icily, his eyes drawn to the mounds of kruge on the throne.

“Yes, but it is also mine,” Greed said. Kaz locked eyes with Greed. He was slightly unnerved by the fact he was holding a staring contest with himself, but that was the least of his worries.   

“Explain,” he demanded. Greed looked at him with contempt.

“Shouldn’t it be obvious? You said it yourself. Greed bows to you. But you are also Greed. I am you. And you are me. The only person you bow to is yourself, therefore, Greed does in fact, bow to you Kaz Rietzvald, or shall I say, Kaz Brekker. I am your blessing and I am your curse.” Greed began to fade, tossing the walking stick at Kaz as he did so. “You are a god, to put it simply. Do what you will with that knowledge.”

“Wait,” he called, “You still have explaining to do jackass.” But Greed was gone, and instead of shouting at his own face, Kaz was left shouting into empty space. Frustrated, he grabbed the walking stick from the ground and slammed it into the floor. “Let ME OUT GREED,” he growled. Cracks of light started forming in the floor. They spread, growing wider and wider until they were large enough for a man to fit through. Kaz took a deep breath, and jumped into the light.

Kaz opened his eyes to find himself lying in an alleyway in a pool of slowly-drying blood. He coughed, and sat up, looking around for any signs of others. _How am I not dead?_ He thought, _What happened back there? Was that some sort of hallucination? Am I concussed? Was that all in my head? What the hell did he mean, that I am Greed and that Greed is me? It makes no sense. Gods don’t exist. I am no god. I am a businessman._ His eyes searched for any sign of the others. Nothing. He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the stabbing pain in his bad leg. He had to find Inej. Kaz limped out of the alleyway, thankful that it was night and few people were out to see the bastard of the barrel hobbling around like a cripple. The city, fortunately, had mostly survived. There were a few odd bodies here and there, and quite a bit of ash littered the streets, but most of the buildings were in relatively good shape. Some of the smaller slums had been damaged, but it was only a matter of time before they collapsed in on themselves anyways. Despite his injuries, the angular man was still a significant threat to anyone who dared attack him. He foot caught on something and he tumbled to the ground, landing on something soft and warm. _A body,_ Kaz thought. He sat up, wincing as his skin brushed against whoever was laying on the ground. The body was a woman’s dressed in dark clothes and _special Grisha-made slippers._ Kaz’s heart jumped into his throat. He delicately uncovered the woman’s face. It was Inej. And she was breathing. He knew they couldn’t stay in the alleyway. An unconscious Inej was a useless Inej if they needed to fight. They needed to get back to the barrel. Inej needed to be okay. She _had_ to be fine. Kaz couldn’t bear to lose another person he cared about. He didn’t want to be alone again. He awkwardly scooped her up in his arms, grunting as the extra weight caused his bad leg to complain. After half an hour of ducking through backstreets and hiding in shadows, the body of his first real friend in his arms, Kaz Brekker had made it back to the barrel, the words of Greed still weighing on his mind, heavier than Inej’s body in his arms. _I am your blessing and your curse._ For now, Inej was alive. But could the same thing be said for the others? None of them had been seen since the explosions. Kaz closed his eyes, running his hands through his jet black hair, hoping that with time, the sleeping Suli girl that evoked strange feelings within him would wake up.


	2. Maybe That Voice in Your Head Isn't All That Bad After All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brekker and Ghafa pay a visit to a rather unpleasant, yet familiar face.

Sleep did not come easy for Kaz that night. He spent countless minutes pacing the floor, occasionally glancing at Inej’s limp body. She hadn’t moved, but at least she was breathing. He had mustered enough resolve to attempt to tend to some of her injuries, wincing every time his skin brushed against hers. The silence was unbearable. Even Jesper’s drunken singing was better than this. He slammed his hands onto the dresser in frustration, staring at his own reflection. Dark eyes stared back at him, glinting in the moonlight that shown through the window. He was going crazy. Gods weren’t real. It was all a vivid hallucination. That was the only explanation. Kaz felt a cold sweat prickle the back of his neck.

“I am very real Kaz,” the inhuman voice of Greed reverberated in his brain. He jumped, stumbling backwards into the wall. It didn’t matter how much noise he made. No one could hear him.

“No. Leave. You are a figment of my imagination,” he told himself firmly, trying to steady his breathing.

“You are stubborn Kaz Brekker,” Greed laughed, “If you insist on proof, look at your chest.” Kaz tore his shirt off. It was already ruined anyways. He couldn’t believe he was listening to a voice in his head. Maybe money truly did make men crazy. He looked at his shirtless reflection. A huge scar that had not been there before stretched from his right collarbone to the middle of his waist. “That, is the proof that I am real. Kaz Brekker, you should have died on that street, if you were human that is, but you are no longer human. You haven’t been human for 10 years,” Greed said. Kaz stared at his hands. None of this made sense. For the first time, he was stuck in a problem he couldn’t solve with any logic.

“Shit,” he snarled under his breath. He could feel Greed laughing inside his head, which infuriated him even more.

“I will mention, that there is a catch…I am not doing this for you Kaz Brekker, I am Greed. I only do this for myself. Your pure…greed is such a good energy source. It only made sense to merge with you,” Greed said.

“But why? There are plenty of greedy people, so why me,” Kaz questioned.

“Because, your greed is part of you. You mock it. You use it completely to your advantage. Greed, is your bitch Kaz. If you are wondering why I keep ‘saving’ you, well, some deals come with benefits for the other party,” if Greed was standing in front of Kaz, he would have shrugged. “We have been in a commensalism relationship for years, I just never chose to reveal myself.” Kaz’s face twisted in anger.

“So, I’ll play along with this little game, so, why choose now to reveal you’ve been leeching off my aura or some bullshit,” he said icily.

“Because you never died,” Greed said simply, “Sure, you almost died but you got out of those on your own. I needed to reveal my presence because I supported your life until your body stabilized itself. By doing so, I accidentally revealed myself to you, and there clearly isn’t anything I can do about it now.”

“Why lie,” Kaz hissed, even though it was a pointless question. He was basically talking to himself at this point. Greed answered all his questions as he would, had he been in Greed’s position.

“I didn’t lie. I simply chose not to reveal information. You should understand that better than anyone….Dirtyhands.” Kaz was left to the silence of the room once again.  He strode over to Inej’s still form, gently prodding her with a gloved finger.

“Wake up wraith,” he muttered, “You’ve survived worse. Just fucking wake up already.”   

When Kaz eventually fell asleep on the floor, it was around 5AM. He was awoken 2 hours later by a rather vivid dream. Normally he could easily shake off weird dreams, they were only dreams after all, but after the events of yesterday and the previous night, Kaz was still extremely settled. Plus, Jordie had been in this particular dream, something that hadn’t happened in years. Inej was still motionless on his bed. He sat up, groaning. His back and neck ached from lying on the hardwood floor. His stomach growled but he ignored it.  He felt like he would throw up if he tried to eat anything. If Kaz couldn’t see the telltale rise and fall of her chest, he would have thought Inej was dead. She continued to remain motionless, her black hair draped over the pillows. He slowly began to peel off the damaged clothing that clung to his lean body. He ran his finger gently up the scar on his chest, wincing slightly. It was still tender. He slowly began redressing himself in his usual outfit. He knew eventually he needed to eat, and he couldn’t let anyone see just how rattled he was. No matter how he felt, he still needed to maintain his image as the bastard of the barrel. He was about to drag his sorry ass out of the room and force some food down, when a weak groan came from the bed. Kaz whirled, his tie still half undone and rushed towards the bed. Inej had finally woken up. She groaned weakly, her eyes turning to face Kaz, her eyes confused and unfocused.

“Inej,” he breathed, “You’re okay.”

“Kaz. You, what happened? Where are the others?” she croaked, trying to sit up. Kaz’s face hardened.

“The mission failed. There were explosions. I don’t know where the others are,” he said grimly, “We’re back at the barrel. I found you unconscious in an alley.”     Inej’s face twisted.

“Nina, Jesper,” her voice trailed off.

“They might be dead,” Kaz said, his expression unchanging. _And it’s my fault. My greed._ Greed. Kaz could never think of that word the same again.

“Kaz, we need to find them,” the Suli girl sounded desperate. She tried to get up only to collapse back onto the bed. Kaz looked at her, concern on his angular face.

“Stay here, I’ll get you some food. You are of no use to me in this condition,” he said, turning to go. He knew his words sounded harsh, but he still couldn’t comprehend the situation at hand. One moment everything had been going smoothly, the next, everything had gone completely south. As usual, everyone in the main area of the Dregs had looked at Kaz with a mixture of fear, respect, and some with disgust, but thankfully no one bothered him. When he returned to his room, Inej had managed to shakily stand and was busy braiding her long dark hair.

“Kaz, I know you care. Stop acting like you don’t,” she said gently. He stared at her, uncomprehendingly.

“I care about myself,” he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. _And you._ Inej saw through him, she always did.

“Yes, but you also care about them, which is why you intend to find them, and which is also why I’m coming with you,” she said firmly. Kaz sighed. He was pretty sure she knew he cared for her, underneath his guise of selfishness and ice.

“Very well,” he wasn’t in the mood for an argument. “Once you’ve eaten, go out and see if you can hear anything wraith.” He tapped her shoulder with a gloved hand. Inej smiled. She knew that it was Kaz’s way of showing affection, even if he refused adamantly to admit he cared. The pair sat on Kaz’s bed and ate. Every bite felt like cement to Kaz, but he forced it down. He needed to eat if he wanted to recover faster.

“Are you alright Kaz?” Inej asked, her voice laced with concern.

“I’m fine,” he said shortly, trying to push thoughts of Greed from his mind. There was no way he could tell anyone about him, it, Kaz didn’t know what to call the thing that apparently lived in his brain now. Inej opened her mouth to say something else, thought better of it, and went back to eating. _Hmmm_ , _despite how annoying it is to have a voice in one’s head, perhaps, I can use Greed to my advantage. After all, if he prevents me from dying, I can use that in my favor_ thought Kaz. After all, there were advantages to not dying. If he played his cards right, perhaps, he could turn Greed’s intrusion into something that benefitted him.

“I’m gonna go change,” Inej said, standing. Kaz nodded curtly. She left, leaving him to his own devices. Kaz tried to focus. He had no idea whether the other 4 had been kidnapped, killed, or somehow had escaped. Logically, Wylan would be the easiest to find. Out of all of them, he was the one with the least experience surviving life-or-death situations. As for the others, Jesper was probably hiding or looking for Wylan is he was alive, Matthias was probably on the move, and Nina was most likely hiding somewhere. As much as Kaz personally despised Wylan’s father, he at least would know whether or not his son was alive. Kaz figured that if Wylan was dead, someone would have told Jan Van Eck, and if Wylan was alive, well, Jan Van Eck would probably sneer and make a snide comment about how he wished his son was dead. He grabbed his walking stick and limped out of the room.

“Inej, I know where to go first,” he called roughly. She appeared out of the shadows of her door, dressed in clean black leggings, a dark shirt, her hood, and her trademark slippers. She truly looked the part of a wraith. She looked at him curiously.

“Where?” she asked quietly.

“Jan Van Eck. If anyone knows whether or not Wylan is alive, it’s him,” he said flatly. Inej’s nose wrinkled at the mention of Wylan’s father. If there was one thing that the 6 always agreed on it was that Wylan’s father was utter garbage. Inej nodded, pulling her hood over her braided black hair. The pair headed out, Inej ducking through the shadows and Kaz striding through the street, casting threatening glares at anyone who stared for too long. 20 minutes later, they had arrived at the Van Eck estate. Kaz narrowed his eyes. Inej’s shoulders visibly tensed. Kaz strode up to the door and rapped it sharply with his walking stick. No one answered. He swore under his breath and pulled out his lock picks. The pair slipped in and closed the door behind them. The house appeared deserted, but Kaz had already started up the stairs to Jan Van Eck’s office, the place where it all started. 


End file.
